Is There Life Out There
by SimplyHermione
Summary: Oneshot. RWHD. Hermione reflects on her life with Ron after graduation with one question in mind: Is there more? First songfic attempt.


**The characters are J.K. Rowling's. The song is Reba McEntire's "Is There Life Out There."**

Sometimes I wonder what might have happened had Ron and I not gotten together so early. In our seventh year of Hogwarts, we were so young to be so involved. And yet we were so very involved.

He swore he loved me to the death, and I swore the same.

When Harry died in that final battle, we grew even closer. Death was more real to us, then. We were inseparable; two of few survivors. It was this common bond we'd never forget.

He proposed to me that Christmas. He took me out to a fancy Italian restaurant in muggle England and proposed right there, with everyone watching. I was bright red and so warm from my blushing that I could feel the heat radiating from me.

The ring was beautiful; simple, yet elegant.

We married that summer; unable to wait any longer. We knew we wanted to be together; we knew it was for real. We knew it was forever.

We thought we'd done everything we'd ever want to do apart. We longed to just finish the rest of our lives together.

_She married when she was twenty  
She thought she was ready  
Now she's not so sure  
She thought she'd done some living  
But now she's just wonderin'  
What she's living for  
Now she's feeling that there's something more _

Ron and I have made a wonderful life for ourselves. We have three beautiful children. Ashlyn is a spunky little redhead, just like her aunt Ginny. Harold is a hotheaded but sweet fireball, just like his father. Then there's Kathleen, our darling youngest girl, with my brown locks and her father's firey blue eyes. She began reading at the age of four. They all say she'll follow right in the footsteps of her mother. I don't know how I feel about that exactly, but Ronald is very happy about it. He beams daily at the girl, his face bright red with pride.

I've spent my days taking care of the children while he works as an Auror for the Ministry. I had these dreams of going to further schooling and finding an ambitious career, but those dreams faded when I became pregnant with Ashlyn. I turned down my acceptance into the most prestigious school in all of England, and I chose to become the stay-at-home mother my mother had been for me.

I won't lie, though. Sometimes I truly wonder how it would have been had I not gotten pregnant with Ashlyn quite so early, or if we would have gotten quite as serious had the final battle not ended how it did. I wonder if there's maybe something more that I could've done with my life.

_Is there life out there  
So much she hasn't done  
Is there life beyond  
Her family and her home  
She's done what she should  
Should she do what she dares  
She doesn't want to leave  
She's just wonderin'  
Is there life out there_

With Ronald and I, it was all planning and learning how to make our life together work. I, of course, led in all the planning. I had to know how to be a mother and a financial advisor and the responsible one in everything. I love Ronald dearly, and he takes very good care of us, but sometimes it just takes so much energy to take care of him in return.

Sometimes it seems like I live in either the future or the past. I'm either thinking of what has happened or what's to come. It seems like I lost the ability to be compulsive. Or perhaps I never had it in the first place. Sometimes I wish I could just do something so completely crazy and wild that I'd throw everyone completely off and no one would know what to do.

I've wanted to go on one of those fancy muggle cruises, all alone with no dinner to prepare, no shirts to press, and no diapers to change. Sometimes, I just want to do something for _me. _

_She's always lived for tomorrow  
She's never learned how  
To live for today  
She's dyin' to try something foolish  
Do something crazy  
Or just get away  
Something for herself for a change  
_  
I love my family. Really, I do. I love feeding them, and keeping his clothes ready for his day, and even changing those dirty diapers. I love knowing they're safe, and they're home, and I just love knowing they're there. I love to have them.

I feel so blessed to have all of them in my life. I don't know what I'd do without them.

And yet, somehow, I'm almost curious to see.

_Is there life out there  
So much she hasn't done  
Is there life beyond  
Her family and her home  
She's done what she should  
Should she do what she dares  
She doesn't want to leave  
She's just wonderin'  
Is there life out there  
_  
Sometimes I just feel like there's so much I've never done. There's so much I haven't tried; so many places I've never been. It seems like somewhere out there, there might be a place where all is fair and good. Where there's enough time to do everything I need to do. Where everything really is the peaceful and perfect life I envisioned when I started all of this.

There are days when I stare out the window and watch all the people pass. I wonder what their lives are like. I wonder what decisions they made early in life that put them where they are today. I wonder if, had I known where I'd be at this moment, I would have made the same decisions.

Would I have, in the end, wanted all this?

_There's a place in the sun that she's never been  
Where life is fair and time is a friend  
Would she do it the same as she did back then  
She looks out the window and wonders again  
_  
I thought, when I became married, that I'd done all the living I needed to do before I settled down with Ron. We wanted it so badly. We wanted to be together. We wanted that adult life.

We wanted the stability.

I don't want to leave Ron. It's just that, in my life, I feel like I've always done what's right and good. I've been the perfect example for others to follow, and I've done everthing I should ever possibly do.

But there are just some times, when I just want to run away from it all...

_Is there life out there  
So much she hasn't done  
Is there life beyond  
Her family and her home  
She's done what she should  
Should she do what she dares  
She doesn't want to leave  
She's just wonderin'  
Is there life out there  
_

I suppose we all have moments like this one. We doubt our choices. We wonder how we got to where we are today. We wonder if, had we known, we would have chosen the same path. Given all those other choices, would we have still decided what we did?

For those who never make the responsible choices; they wonder how it would have been had they changed that one decision. Would that have changed their entire course of life? And those like me, who have always done the right thing, wonder if one little mistake might have messed it all up for everyone. Or if, just maybe, that one little mistake would set us free?

_Is there life out there  
So much she hasn't done  
Is there life beyond  
Her family and her home  
She's done what she should  
Should she do what she dares  
She doesn't want to leave  
She's just wonderin'  
Is there life out there _

I've made a lot of choices in my life; both good and bad. I don't regret any of them. I'm happy where I am. I love Ronald, and he loves me. We both love our children more than life itself. We are responsible parents who always do right by our children, and by one another.

We have limited our life experience to solely one another. We decided we were all that we needed. Just us.

We wanted the home. We wanted the maturity. We wanted that stability. We needed it.

But still, I can't help but wonder, is there some other kind of life out there?

And for those who are living that life, I wonder if they're wondering the exact same thing at this exact same moment.

Are you?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Hey everyone, let me know what you think. It's a little different, and my first attempt at a songfic of any type. Also my first Ron/Hermione since my original horribly failed attempt...**

**Anyway, please just review. Thanks!**


End file.
